WELL DONE: Armando Gutierrez, first-grade teacher at Martin Elementary, was named Thursday of a Santa Ana Unified Teacher of the Year.

SURPRISE: Christina Barber was surprised to find she was chosen as Santa Ana Unified's Teachers of the Year on Thursday.

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TUMMY TOUCH: Christina Coello Barber was surprised to find she was chosen as Santa Ana Unified's Teachers of the Year on Thursday. Among the surprises was her mother, Elsa Coello, who gave the pregnant Christina a pat on the tummy. Her maternity leave begins after Friday. At right is SAUSD Superintendent Jane Russo.

APPLAUSE: Students in her sixth-grade class applaud on seeing their teacher, Christina Coello Barber, at MacArthur Intermediate chosen as Santa Ana Unified's Teachers of the Year.

SANTA ANA – Three Santa Ana Unified teachers were named Thursday as the district’s 2008 Teachers of the Year.

A roving “prize patrol,” which included Santa Ana Unified Superintendent Jane Russo, photographers and other school officials, burst into the classroom of each of the winners with a bouquet of flowers, balloons and other prizes to announce they had won.

The winners are Armando Gutierrez, a first-grade teacher at Martin Elementary; Cristina Coello Barber, an English teacher at MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate; and Daniel Echeverria, a math teacher at Lorin Griset Academy.

“I am completely overwhelmed right now,” said Coello Barber, an expecting mom who will be on maternity leave starting Friday. “I feel like I’m going to have my baby right now.”

The three teachers will represent the district in the Orange County Teachers of the Year competition. The county winners will be announced in May.